Message: The Person of Jesus Christ

Ministering: Pastor Dr. Raf Otono

Date: 7th May 2023

Text: Matthew 16:13-16, Acts 11:26

Today, I am starting a series titled the PERSON OF JESUS CHRIST!

We are going to be looking at His person, His character, Not His works, not His anointing, not His miracles, nor His deity but His PERSONALITY!

You see, we live in a generation where the anointing of Jesus is preached, the miracles & power of Jesus is advertised but the person of Jesus has been swept under the rug.

Listen: Until you know a man’s character or personality, you don’t truly know him. – So, I say, until we know the person of Jesus, we can’t be true Christians.

We are just a bunch of people looking for His power, anointing and miracles without genuine knowledge of who He is. It is like a woman married to a man because he is rich, not because she loves him – she is still called Mrs …. She bears the title of her husband’s name but she doesn’t care about him.

Jesus was fully God and fully human. We can spend a lifetime as Christians studying the Bible to grasp Jesus as a deity, but how many of us get to know his personality? It hit me really hard recently that the reason why the church isn’t producing much Christ-like kind of men and women is because our teachings hasn’t been centered on His person rather on His works and anointing so we are producing a lot of anointed men and women with questionable characters.

In Acts 11:26, the disciples were called Christians (Christ-Like) – they weren’t the ones that called themselves that name – according to church history – they called themselves THE WAY, but because their character and personalities reflected CHRIST so much, they called them CHRISTIANS!

Listen: Your lifestyle and character are what defines you as a true Christian. How much of Christ God and men see in you determines your Christianity.

Question: Does your character reflect Christ? Have you ever been asked if you are Christian because of your character? Can your neighbors call you a Christian? Can your colleagues call you a Christians? SELAH!

– He asked His disciples in Matt 16:13 – Who do men say that I, THE SON OF MAN AM?

The son of man speaks of His humanity, His person – Not His divinity! He was like do these guys even know me?! – When He heard the answers, He was like clearly, they don’t know me!

Then He turned to His disciples – But you, that have spent time with me and know me – WHO DO YOU SAY I AM?

Different question entirely! Not the SON OF MAN but I AM (DIVINITY!)

Notice Peter’s answer – You are the Christ, Not Jesus – son of the living God!

JESUS IS HIS PERSON – CHRIST IS HIS DIVINITY!

Write this: It is an error to know the divinity of Christ without knowing the person of Jesus. The apostles first knew His person before they discovered His deity! – 1John 1:1-4

We often sing, “I want to be like Jesus.” But how can we be like someone we don’t even know?! All religion has taught us about Him is how He raised the dead and walked on water but never taught us who He is! WHY? Because they don’t want us to be like Him! However noble our desire to be like Him may be, until we study His character and discover who He is we cannot be conformed to His image as it says in Romans 8:29

In order to be like Jesus and be conformed (or transformed) into His image, we are to emulate Him in totality. And we can only do this if we know who He really is. That is why we need to know the person of Jesus Christ.

I began to painstakingly look at the life of Jesus Christ and saw a few things I’d like to share that will help us become better Christians.

In order to capture His full personality/character, I started from His early life as a Boy (Boy Jesus) – Luke 2:42-52

4 CHARACTERISTIC OF THE BOY JESUS

1. He was a learner -Luke 2:46

One of our biggest problems today as Christians is lack of learning – everyone claims to know so they don’t learn.

Listen: The greatest adversary of learning is knowing”

He wasn’t just a learner; He was an inquisitive learner- He was asking questions! For 3 days He was in the temple learning! Jesus the word was learning the WORD!

You know why? There are somethings you can never understand until you see it through the lens of others! You can’t see the picture when you are in the frame!

You want to be a better Christian? Ask questions and learn of Him, don’t assume you know Him! – Matt 11:29.

One of the reasons why we have a lot of religious people in the church instead of Christians is because we don’t question what we are taught. The Berean Christians were not so – Acts 17:11

2. He understood times/season & authority – Luke 2:42 – 1Chronicles 12:32

• He was silent for 11years till He became 12yrs – why?
• The number 12 is the number of authority (12 tribes, 12 apostles)
• At age 12 every Jewish boy becomes the son of the law ie They are old enough to start serving God in the temple (So at age 12 He gave us a glimpse of His mission on earth)

After that time, we didn’t hear about Him again. He was silent for another 18yrs till He was 30years. The age of responsibility -Luke 3:23

What was He doing? He was preparing and building capacity for His destiny!

Sir/ma God will never give you what you prayed for, but what you have capacity to receive and prepared for

Jesus spent 30 years building capacity for a three and a half years ministry.

You want to be like Jesus? Know when to hide and when to show forth for manifestation! There is a time for everything under heaven

3. He knew His assignment/Purpose (vs 48-49) – My Father’s business!

He wasn’t confused about His assignment, He knew from an early age and reminded His mother that, that comes first!

He was very intentional about His purpose! Those were the 1st recorded word of Jesus and His last words were – It is finished! What finished? The father’s business I came for!

For us to be like Jesus, we must continue the father’s business He started and find our purpose in Him!

4. He understood the principle of submission – (v51-52 AMP) – Gal 4:1-2

Jesus was a man that understood submission totally! He went down with them and was subject to them- and submitted to them! Jesus submitted?

• We are talking about character building as a Christian.
• Who do you submit to?
• Who can rebuke and correct you without you being offended?
• You are a Christian, yet nobody can correct or rebuke you – you need to repent today! It is not Christ-like
• Every child of God needs earthly guidance for them to fulfill their destiny

Listen: Any man that understands the principle of submission, must grow in wisdom and stature because he is constantly drawing from the wisdom bank of those ahead of him. He learns from their mistakes and achievements.

It is my prayer from today;

You will become a learner like Jesus

You will understand times and season like Jesus

You will find and know your assignment like Jesus

And you will be submissive like Jesus

 

Prayer:

Father, in the name of Jesus, today with a heart of humility build my character and make me like Your son Jesus

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